Symphonic metal is a fairly oversaturated genre, with bands all playing in exactly the same style to one another with little to no variation between one band to the next, but one band that is absolutely breaking the mould is Swiss symphonic-death metallers Dysrider, who have really crafted their own unique sound with their debut album Bury The Omen, and it makes for an all-round engaging listen.
It always helps when a release has a gripping introduction and opener Emergence, whilst fairly simplistic, adds a hell of a lot of atmosphere to the album and builds things up and up, slowly adding more and more instruments, and getting louder and louder until the first full track, Against Your Hold kicks in and drags you right into the album with powerful harsh vocals and furiously energetic drums paired up with cello – and everything just flows and works magnificently with the cello being used as a lead instrument rather than being synthesised or used as one part of an orchestra. It sets Dysrider apart from the crowd and helps them to make even more of an impression.
A highlight of the album has to be the highly emotive Blind Avengers. It starts off with a fairly gentle and stripped back tone, and as female vocalist Joëlle begins to sing, you can really hear the sheer emotion in her voice and it really gives her a moment to shine and show exactly what she’s capable of in the first half of the song. Then as the song progresses, it gets a whole lot more heavier and the second half of Blind Avengers gives male vocalist Jonathan more of the spotlight and the sheer power and momentum behind his voice is great, before the song winds things up with a stunning instrumental section and female vocals once again.
Quite simply, Bury The Omen is an album that will hold your interest from start to finish. Dysrider have crafted something rather wonderful and one thing is for sure – the future is bright for this up and coming band.
9/10
